Faking It with the Forward

Twyler Perkins is an intern with the varsity hockey team at Wittmore U, and her boss has told her plainly that the players are off limits. She intends to follow the rule.

Reese Cain, the team's captain, has a reputation for charm and for women. He also has an ex he wants to keep at a distance, and a season he needs to concentrate on. If he looks taken, both problems get easier, and Twyler is the person he picks to make that believable.

The two agree to a fake relationship: dates in public, staged affection, and a better social standing for Twyler on campus. It suits them both on paper. Then the pretending begins to feel less like acting, and each of them has to work out which parts are real.

This is a standalone college romance in the fake-dating mode, with a sports setting and a workplace rule hanging over the couple. The tension builds from the gap between the performance and the feelings underneath it, and the season keeps running while they sort it out.